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Sistrunk does it all for Grand Street Campus

By JULIAN GARCIA
DAILY NEWS SPORTS WRITER

Javon Sistrunk is not one to set his sights too low.

Before this season began, the Grand Street Campus tailback made it one of his goals to lead the Wolves to the PSAL playoffs despite the fact that they had suffered through a 2-7 season last year. As long as those odds may have seemed, Sistrunk raised the bar even higher when he made up a list of colleges he was willing to attend even if he had to try to make the team there as a walk-on. His list includes Miami, West Virginia, Virginia Tech, Florida State, Maryland and Boston College.

Talk about reaching for the stars.But why not? Sistrunk already has seen one of his dreams come true.On Sunday, he and his teammates wrapped up an undefeated regular season with a 36-6 win over Erasmus. In just their second year at the varsity level, the Wolves are now playoff-bound and will play perennial contender Wagner on Saturday on Staten Island."To me, it's like a dream," Sistrunk said of going 8-0 and making the postseason.

Sistrunk rushed for 178 yards and three touchdowns against Erasmus and is the Daily News Athlete of the Week.

So far this season, the 6-1, 210-pound senior has rushed for more than 1,100 yards and 14 touchdowns. He also carries an 84 average and is a member of the Brooklyn school's honor roll. According to coach Ed Gazzillo, Sistrunk is the biggest reason for the Wolves' dramatic turnaround.

Before this season began, Gazzillo moved Sistrunk from his old position, fullback, to tailback.

It was an easy decision. "We felt he was our fastest player, our best playmaker and our best athlete," Gazzillo said.

But before Sistrunk could make an impact on the field, he had to adjust the Wolves' attitude off it. So he got together with a group of seniors and decided to change the way the team went about its business.

"Last season was hectic," he said. "We fell behind a lot and we just gave up too much."But when we went to camp over the summer, we came together as a team and a unit," Sistrunk added.

And what will stand out is the fact the Wolves are the only playoff team that was given a rating of 1 before the season began, meaning any team that beat them would have picked up just one power point.

As it turned out, no team ever did.

Originally published on November 5, 2002

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